There has been some discussion in our Boot Camp Forum about whether or not the Intel-based Mac minis will be compatible with Windows Vista. Most of the discussion seems to be centered around Aero, the new graphical user interface in Windows Vista. The Aero interface features translucent windows, 3D perspective, animations, rich texture and more.

According to the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor Beta, Aero will be supported on the Mac mini, but there are a few requirements. You must have at least 1GB of memory installed in your Mac mini and 15GB of free hard drive space. If your hard drive doesn't have enough free space, you will receive a warning telling you what actions to take.

The Upgrade Advisor also allows you to test the compatibility of your Mac mini with the other features offered in Windows Vista. I am happy to report that the Mac mini will support all of the features listed, with the exception of those dealing with TV tuner cards and Windows Media Center connectivity. It will also advise you on what version of Windows Vista to purchase based on the features you select. And that, my friends, is where I called it a day. There is only going to be one operating system in my future. Think Leopard!

I can't wait to have Leopard and Vista installed at the same time, but I'll probably need to upgrade my hard drive first. Hopefully, prices will come down on 120GB and 160GB drives over the next few months.

I'm going to wait and see if Apple includes virtualization in Leopard. If they don't, I'm going to give Parallels a serious look. I mean Boot Camp is all right, but I'd rather keep in OS X all the time.

Well, Parallels Desktop won't run Vista on a clean install. During the initial installation screen Vista complains that the Bios on the machine is not ACPI compatible and stops. I will try again from an XP - Vista upgrade, but i doubt that will work either... Bummer.

I can't get Aero on my Mini either (1.67 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM). I allocated 20GB for Vista in Boot Camp, and have now after installing Vista and Office 2007 Beta approx 10 GB left. Should this be sufficient?